Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Home Office is a large United Kingdom government department, responsible for internal affairs, such as security, crime, drugs, counter-terrorism and ID cards. It continues to be known, especially in official papers, as in former times as the Home Department. Organisation The Home Office has the following stated objectives: To cut crime, especially violent and drug-related crime To ensure people feel safer in their homes and daily lives, particularly through more visible, responsive and accountable policing To protect the UK from terrorist attack To rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the law-abiding majority and victims To manage offenders in order to protect the public and reduce re-offending To secure the borders of the United Kingdom, prevent abuse of immigration laws and manage migration to the benefit of the UK. Objectives of the Home Office(as of 29 June2007)Secretary of State for the Home Department (aka the "Home Secretary"): The Rt Hon. Jacqui Smith, MP

Minister of State (Security, Counterterrorism and Police): Tony McNulty, MPMinister of State (Immigration and Asylum) and Minister for the West Midlands: The Rt Hon. Liam Byrne, MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State: Vernon Coaker, MPParliamentary Under-Secretary of State: Meg Hillier, MPParliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Security, Counterterrorism and Police): Admiral The Lord West of Spithead, GCB, DSC Ministers On March 27, 1782, the Home Office was formed by renaming the existing Southern Department, with all existing staff transferring. On the same day, the Northern Department was renamed the Foreign Office. To match the new names, there was a transferring of responsibilities between the two Departments of State. All domestic responsibilities were moved to the Home Office, and all foreign matters became the concern of the Foreign Office. All subsequent domestic departments have been formed by splitting responsibilities away from the Home Office. The initial responsibilities were: Responsibilities were subsequently changed over the years that followed: The Home Office retains a variety of functions that have not found a home elsewhere, and sit oddly with the main law-and-order focus of the department, such as regulation of British Summer Time. answering petitions and addresses sent to the King advising the King on

royal grantswarrants and commissions the exercise of Royal Prerogative issuing instructions on behalf of the King to officers of the Crown, Lords Lieutenant and magistrates, mainly concerning law and order operation of the secret service within the UK protecting the public safeguarding the rights and liberties of individuals 1793 added: regulation of aliens 1794 removed: control of military forces (to Secretary of State for War) 1801 removed: colonial business (to Secretary of State for War and the Colonies) 1804 removed: Barbary State consuls (to Secretary of State for War and the Colonies) 1823 added: prisons 1829 added: police services 1836 added: registration of births, deaths and marriages in England and Wales 1844 added: naturalisation 1845 added: registration of Friendly Societies 1855 removed: yeomanries and militias (to War Office) 1858 added: local boards of health 1871 removed: local boards of health (to Local Government Board) 1871 removed: registration of births, deaths and marriages (to Local Government Board) 1872 removed: highways and turnpikes (to Local Government Board) 1875 added: control of explosives 1875 removed: registration of Friendly Societies (to Treasury) 1885 removed: Scotland (to Secretary for Scotland) 1886 removed: fishing (to Board of Trade) 1889 removed: Land Commissioners (to Board of Agriculture) 1900 removed: matters relating to burial grounds (to Local Government Board) 1905 removed: public housing (to Local Government Board) 1914 added: dangerous drugs 1919 removed: aircraft and air traffic (to Air Ministry) 1919 removed: use of human bodies in medical training (to Ministry of Health) 1919 removed: infant and child care (to Ministry of Health) 1919 removed: lunacy and mental health (to Ministry of Health) 1919 removed: health and safety (to Ministry of Health) 1920 added: firearms 1920 removed: Representation of Britain abroad in labour matters (to Ministry of Labour) 1920 removed: mining (to Mines Department) 1921 added: elections (from the Ministry of Health) 1922 removed: relations with Irish Free State (to Colonial Office) 1923 removed: Order of the British Empire (to Treasury) 1925 removed: registration of trade unions (to Ministry of Labour) 1931 removed: county councils (to Ministry of Health) 1933 added: poisons 1934 removed: metropolitan boroughs (to Ministry of Health) 1937 removed: road accident returns (to Ministry of Transport) 1938 added: fire services 1938 removed: Imperial Service Order and medal (to Treasury) 1940 removed: factory inspections (to Ministry of Labour) 1945 removed: workmen's compensation scheme (to Ministry of National Insurance) 1947 added: infant and child care (from Ministry of Health) 1947 removed: regulation of advertisements (to Ministry of Town and Country Planning) 1947 removed: burial fees (to Ministry of Health) 1947 removed: registration of Building Societies (to Treasury) 1948 removed: Broadmoor hospital (to Lunacy Board of Control) 1950 removed: structural precautions for civil defence (to Ministry of Works) 1950 removed: minor judicial appointments (to Lord Chancellor) 1953 removed: slaughterhouses (to Ministry of Housing and Local Government) 1954 removed: markets (to Ministry of Housing and Local Government) 1956 removed: railway accidents (to Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation) 1969 removed: reservoirs (to Ministry of Housing and Local Government) 1971 removed: child care in England (to Department of Health and Social Security) 1971 removed: child care in Wales (to Welsh Office) 1972 removed: Northern Ireland (to Northern Ireland Office) 1973 removed: adoption (to Department of Health and Social Security) 1992 removed: broadcasting and sport (to the new Department of National Heritage - later the Department for Culture, Media and Sport) 2007 removed: criminal justice, prisons & probation and legal affairs (to new Ministry of Justice) 2007 added: counter-terrorism strategy (from the Cabinet Office) Permanent Under Secretaries of State of the Home OfficeAssets Recovery Agency headed by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Crime, Security and Communities)Criminal Records Bureau headed by the Minister of State (Criminal Justice and Offender Management)Forensic Science Service headed by the Minister of State (Crime, Security and Communities)HM Prison Service headed by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Criminal Justice and Offender Management)Identity and Passport Service headed by the Minister of State (Immigration and Citizenship)Border and Immigration AgencyDrug Intervention Program Location From 1978 to 2004, the Home Office was located in a Brutalist block in Queen Anne's Gate in Westminster designed by Sir Basil Spence, close to St. James's Park tube station. Many functions, however, were devolved to offices in other parts of London and the country, notably the headquarters of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon. In Spring 2005, the Home Office moved to a new main office designed by architect Sir Terry Farrell at 2 Marsham Street, Westminster, on the site of the demolished Marsham Towers building of the Department of the Environment.[5] The contract to build the new headquarters was a public-private partnership deal intended to last for around 29 years. The architect worked with artist Liam Gillick to enhance the facade of the building. The works of art have been cited as key factors in the design awards won by the project. Other artists were commissioned to create works in the public areas around the building -- including Georgie Hopton, Roger Hiorns,Runa Islam, Simon Periton and Gary Webb.